Clinical investment is hard to approve on enthusiasm alone. A finance director wants costs, benefits and a payback period, and a clinical director wants proof that patients will be better off. This business case example puts both in one document: the clinical need, the options considered, patient outcomes, a costed budget, activity and the risks. Each figure carries its basis, so the decision can be defended to a board.

The sample is for Bramblewood Works, a fictional clinic group considering a new referral route for earlier diagnosis. It shows £538K of year-one costs, a payback of 28 months, a benefit-cost ratio of 1.8, and a preferred option that cuts the first wait from 14 weeks to 6. Replace the need, costs, benefits and owners with your own, and run a 20 per cent downside test on benefits before the paper goes to the board.